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Culture of Drosophila: The Laboratory Setup

Adapted from "Laboratory Culture of Drosophila," Chapter 35, in Drosophila Protocols (eds. Sullivan et al.). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2000.

INTRODUCTION

Since its introduction to experimental biology more than 90 years ago, Drosophila melanogaster has proved to be an easily cultured and robust laboratory animal. Although culture techniques and the ways in which flies are handled have changed over the years, if he were to enter a fly room today, T.H. Morgan would clearly recognize what is being done, and why. This article provides the basic methods for the laboratory culture of D. melanogaster. The intelligent culture of Drosophila requires a basic understanding of the life cycle of this fly. For this reason, we begin by describing the life cycle of Drosophila and then present information for setting up a fly laboratory.